Your choice: - or +? (& Urban Outfitters News!)
Poetry Oracle: Week of November 27th
Welcome back to the Self Love Confidential Poetry Oracle, where the universe sends you the message you need to hear right now by way of a poem or two from one of my books.
If you’re inundated with thoughts and don’t know what to do with them, this week’s Oracle is for you.
A throwback to my first trip to Ojai back in October of 2020, which was also our first time leaving LA after the pandemic started.
This weekend, my family and I went to my favorite place, Ojai, for an overnight getaway. I’ve been a few times alone over the past few years, and each time I go I have a magical, transcendent experience. The kids were off the entire week for Thanksgiving, and by Saturday a road trip felt like just what the doctor ordered. We packed light, got in the car, affixed the bikes to the rack, and hit the road.
And just like that, the complaints started (I don’t want to sit in the middle! This is boringgggg!). And then the complaints continued (I can’t sleep! It’s too hot! It’s too dry! Teddy is snoring!). And then I fell off my bike and injured my whole left side. And then our back car window exploded on the freeway on the way home (we’re okay, I promise). My husband, who had had two other broken glass experiences in the past three days, and also has a serious phobia when it comes to broken glass, did an amazing job keeping his cool. But I, I couldn’t help but wonder: are we cursed?
And then I remembered this:
“Negative thought:
I believe it so deeply it
became real.Positive thought:
I believed it so deeply it
became real.Your choice.”
I had a many a negative thought fill my mind when the glass shattered on the freeway. How much is this going to cost? Is insurance going to cover it? Which bodyshop do I go to? Will our insurance go up? How are we going to handle this, on top of everything else?!
But then I took a moment to google it, and according to the very first result, it turns out broken glass is a good omen! This is good luck! And before I could read another article that said the opposite, I put down my phone and declared to my still reeling family, “This is a good thing!” And maybe if I believe that deeply enough, it can be the only possible reality for me. Maybe it’s a miracle that despite the entire back window shattering while we were going 75 mph, not a single piece of glass landed on one of our kids. Maybe it’s a good thing that it was only shattered glass, and not a car accident. Maybe even though I fell off my bike, I’ll instead remember the five of us biking together without training wheels for the very first time ever. Maybe it’s a good thing that we were all crammed into one hotel room complaining about the lack of air because very soon enough, my girls will be teenagers and we won’t be able to contain them. Maybe as long as we are together, and healthy and safe, nothing bad is actually happening to us at all, even when at first shatter it seems like it is.
Everytime I go to Ojai, it has a message for me. This time, the message couldn’t be more clear. As long as I believe in my blessings, they are real. They are mine. And maybe they are yours, too.
You may not be able to control what happens to you, but you can control how you think about it, and what it ultimately means to you. Is broken glass a curse or a blessing? It’s up to me, and it’s up to you.
My books are on sale at Urban Outfitters today for Cyber Monday. Don’t miss stocking up on them as a holiday gift for your favorites!
